The U.S. Needs to Put Its Values Back at the Center of Its Foreign Policy

When freedom isn't an American priority, dictators start to believe they can murder with impunity.

by Danielle PletkaOct 24, 20183 minutes

Source: Leah Millis / Reuters

Why do murders like those of Jamal Khashoggi and Farzad Barzoft, or disappearances like those of Pakistani blogger Samar Abbas and Chinese professor Sun Wenguang happen? Simple. Because anti-democratic regimes believe they can get away with it. And because the United States and its allies have failed since the end of the Cold War to embrace a national-security strategy founded on values, rather than naked geopolitical interests, these regimes will largely be right.